On April 19, the company announced it had closed a deal to buy New York-based HealthiNation Inc., the operator of an online health care video library. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We are always looking for ways to accelerate our vision of being the leading consumer digital health platform,” Doug Hirsch, GoodRx co-chief executive and co-founder, said in the announcement. “The acquisition of HealthiNation aligns with our effort to invest more in research and content to empower consumers.”
HealthiNation bills itself as a provider of video content focused on healthy lifestyles. The company has produced thousands of hours of video content on topics such as recipes, nutrition information, fitness regimens and how to live with chronic health conditions.
GoodRx, which was founded in 2011, developed a platform to allow consumers to comparison price shop for prescription medications, taking advantage of little-known but significant price variations among pharmacies.
The company has since augmented that with comparison shopping capability for telemedicine services, the result of the acquisition nearly two years ago of telemedicine provider Hey Doctor.
GoodRx went public in September, raising $1.1 billion, of which about $772 million was slated for its own use. As part of the initial public offering, the company paid $396 million in “founders’ fees” to co-founders and co-chief executives Hirsch and Trevor Bezdek.
With this latest acquisition, GoodRx spokeswoman Lauren Casparis said the company initially will link from its own platform to HealthiNation videos, adding links to advertisements from its pharmaceutical manufacturer customers.
“In the future, our plan is to incorporate the HealthiNation videos with the editorial content on the GoodRx site, so consumers can receive best-in-class information across a range of health topics,” Casparis said.
For now, she said, HealthiNation will comprise a unit within GoodRx. All of HealthiNation’s estimated 30 employees have been asked to remain on board.
“We couldn’t be more excited to join GoodRx, the leading marketplace for consumer health care in America, in its effort to improve health outcomes and make healthcare more affordable for everyone,” Michael O’Donnell, HealthiNation chief executive, said in the announcement.
“Consumers and pharmaceutical manufacturers appreciate and trust our expert-created health videos because they are easy to understand and a safe platform for valuable health information and guidance.
